Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Rat Rangers Deployment!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A forest shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
Rough breaths and the stomp of military boots crushed the chilling silence with heavy weight.
"We are the rats of justice that will blanket the world! Chk!"
Young but venom-laced voices sliced through the night air, echoing far and wide.
Twelve Ratkin carrying gear as big as themselves poured sweat like rain as they marched up the steep forest path.
It was a round-trip course from Hamster Wheel Village to the checkpoint on the outskirts of the capital Dunholm and back.
The final trial for the Rat Rangers 1st Class candidates: a full-gear night march.
A grueling forced march that would normally have them rolling on the ground, foaming at the mouth by now.
Even I, a country Ratkin tempered by dungeons and requests, was sticking out my tongue in exhaustion—how must the city rats feel?
But the candidates had stuffed their bellies with meat stew every day for the past two months, desperately packing on muscle.
And every night, they'd been thoroughly indoctrinated with the doctrines of the Hamster Wheel Church by Sena, arming their minds without a single gap.
"Chk! One! Two!"
"One! Two! Chk! Ack!"
Even in the darkness, the Rat girls' eyes gleamed sharp as blades.
The result: the march ended without a single straggler.
The Rangers supported each other's exhausted packs, pushing and pulling, until they finally entered the village outskirts as dawn broke.
"Entire unit, halt."
At my low command, the twelve mud-caked candidates snapped to perfect formation, standing rigid.
Though their legs trembled and their breaths reached their throats, not one knelt.
I slowly removed the red hood I'd pulled low over my face.
"All pass."
At those short words slipping from my lips, the stiff shoulders of the children quivered faintly.
"From this moment, you are no longer candidates. You are Rat Rangers!"
"Ack!"
The crisp response rang across the training grounds.
I opened the pre-prepared wooden boxes.
Uniforms sewn stitch by stitch through the night by the tailor rats were handed out one by one.
Dark green cloaks perfect for forest camouflage, sturdy leather vests.
And crisp green berets with perfect angles!
No trace remained of the pickpocket orphans who'd roamed the back alleys in these uniformed kids.
Finally, real weapons forged in Mani's smithy were bestowed.
"Temi."
"Ack! Rat Ranger Temi!"
I placed a standard-issue Rapid Bowgun, finished in cold steel, into Temi's arms.
His fingers, used only to crude wooden popguns, trembled with overwhelming emotion at the chill touch of a real weapon.
"You endured the training splendidly! Now, protect our village and comrades with that weapon in your hands!"
Tears welled in Temi's big eyes and finally spilled down his cheeks.
He clutched the cold steel bowgun like his own life, then bellowed toward the dawning sky.
"Lady Rodentia forever! Apostle Loti forever!"
"Forever! Forever! Chk!"
The triumphant roar from twelve Rat Rangers!
The dew-kissed training grounds thundered.
Well done, my Rat Rangers! Spread my teachings far and wide, devour every rotten evil in this world without mercy! Spread like wildfire across the entire world!
The thrilling afterglow of the graduation ceremony hadn't even faded.
The next day, shooting training with real weapons began immediately for the Rangers.
"Breathe, aim, fire!"
Clack, twang!
Twelve bolts fired in unison at the command slammed dead-center into the targets.
The Ratkin innate agility, combined with ironclad mental training from hellish drills.
Plus the Rapid Bowgun's overwhelming rate of fire—it was a synergy explosion.
Once the kids fully adapted to fire control and the bowguns, I issued their first real combat mission to sharply raise the village's defenses.
The ominous Ratstein Foundation that visited a few days ago, and the suspiciously strange movements in the surrounding forest lately.
I assembled the Rangers on the training grounds and raised my voice.
"Monsters are swarming the forest around the village! They're eyeing the fields we sweated blood for, our food! Are we just gonna watch until they flip our rice bowls?!"
"No sir! Chk!"
"That's right! This forest is our village, our territory, bestowed by the great Lady Rodentia!"
The Rat Rangers' first official mission: a sweep of the nearby forest.
Reduce the monster numbers drastically, then log the nearby woods to expand the village defenses.
The thick underbrush made perfect cover for thugs or kidnappers too.
I jutted my chin at the Rangers.
"Peel their hides and claws, sell 'em, and fatten the village coffers. Forward march!"
"Ack!"
Sena and I took the vanguard of the wedge formation.
The twelve Rat Rangers, green berets cocked jauntily.
Like well-trained hounds, the rats advanced imposingly, parting the forest brush.
Rustle!
Soon, the first enemies appeared: grotesque Blood Torani and a flock of Hoppers.
"Kyaaak!"
"Kieeeek!"
Furious at the territory invasion, the Torani and Hoppers screeched bizarrely, charging from all sides.
Just one or two months ago, on a dusty construction site, they'd have panicked and fled.
But these bowgun-wielding Rat girls were now thoroughly forged combat rats.
"First row, kneel and aim! Second row, standing aim ready!"
At my cold order, the twelve Rangers swiftly formed ranks, creating a two-line alternating fire formation.
No more trembling rats of old.
Steady muzzles locked heavily on the charging monsters' foreheads.
"Aim, fire!"
Pa-pa-pa-pang!
The twelve taut bolts tore through the air like ripping fabric.
"Kiiik!"
The frontrunners turned into pincushions, dropping one by one.
A clean first victory from meticulously calculated overwhelming barrage.
Hilde, watching from the rear with arms crossed, jaw dropped.
"Whoa... they really became a proper line infantry unit in no time?"
As the brief fight ended, the Rangers drew military daggers from their waists without pause and began dismantling the monsters.
True to their slum-honed roots in rough odd jobs, they separated bone from flesh and skinned with expert precision, no hesitation.
"Work halt! Enemies ahead!"
A lookout Ranger girl shouted sharply.
The intruders drawn by the thick blood reek: a goblin pack.
Easily over twenty strong.
A far deadlier menace than the weak beasts before—the kids' throats bobbed hard.
Gulp. Dry swallows rippled through.
I intoned low and firm for the whole formation.
"No panic! Don't flinch at those stupid trash mobs! The great Lady Rodentia watches over you!"
At those words, my Horned Rat summoned imposingly onto my shoulder.
Seeing the holy apostle with their own eyes, the Rangers' eyes flashed from shaken to fanatic.
"Lady Rodentia forever! Chk!"
Fear crushed by faith, the Ratkin reloaded steadily.
"Maintain squad formations! Free fire!"
Pa-pa-pat!
The merciless bolt rain poured; charging goblins fell like wheat at harvest.
The kids advanced in perfect three-man teams as trained, coldly finishing off gasping goblins with headshots.
Then. The thick blood scent and battle noise roused the forest's true predator.
Crack!
Bushes ripped violently; an armored boar the size of a chariot burst out in ambush.
"Kueeek!"
Its massive bulk kicked up dirt, charging straight at Temi at the formation's end.
"Chk! Enemy!"
Temi instinctively rolled aside, evading the horrific charge path. Hundreds of training ground rolls paying off?
'Good job!'
Boom!
The targetless boar slammed its head into a tree, staggering.
The Rat Rangers seized that split-second gap.
Instead of fleeing in panic, the Rat girls mechanically racked their levers.
Clack, twang! Tung! Tung!
Crossfire bolts precisely pierced the soft joints between the boar's eyes and armored shell.
The giant boar staggered without even a proper scream.
"Hearth Goddess! Lord of the Hamster Wheel!"
Sena drew her shortsword, bestowing a blessing.
Glowing red sword aura boosted the Rangers' morale further.
"Good! All bowguns to backs! Melee charge prep!"
At my command, the Ratkin slung their Rapid Bowguns over shoulders and drew backup weapons.
Round small shields and sharp short spears.
"Tighten formation! Shields up!"
Clang!
In an instant, the Rangers formed a dense shield wall.
They encircled the heaving armored boar, pressing in.
"Thrust! Chk!"
Pook! Pook!
The merciless spear thrusts from all sides rendered the thick armor useless.
Head, rump, thighs shredded countless times, the boar thrashed briefly then stilled.
Dead.
"W-We won!"
"We got it!"
The Rat Rangers 1st Class's perfect victory cheer echoed triumphantly.
As the red sunset blanketed the forest, creaking carts brought the Rangers back to the village outskirts.
Village Rat girls spotted the meat piles in the carts and came swarming with cheers.
"Kitchen squad! All hands! Fire up the cauldrons! Meat party tonight!"
Tonight's dinner: Blood Torani and Hoppers.
Highlight: massive armored boar!
These wild monsters had rubbery, gamey meat that stank.
But as I'd felt in Oakwood, stewed or grilled long enough, they were prime protein.
Sizzle!
The massive iron cauldron heated red-hot on the rocket stove.
I slathered the meat surfaces generously with pricey spicy red spices and pungent herbs bought from Polly.
The cooking girls tossed huge chunks nonstop into the cauldron and big grills.
Thick fat dripped into the flames.
"Grr... so good! Chk!"
"Meat! More meat here!"
The Rat Rangers 1st Class, who'd completed their first mission bloodlessly perfect.
Faces smeared with meat grease, they gorged on victory's sweet feast amid villagers.
Late night, festival heat cooled, all bellies full and snoring.
I secretly gathered Mani, Sena, and Hilde in the rickety tent serving as command post.
On the creaky wooden table sat a thin ledger converting today's spoils to value.
"Torani horns, Hopper claws, boar armor... decent, but just enough for meals. No big money."
I rolled the quill, sighing deeply.
"To build sturdy walls around our territory, mass-produce bowguns and bolts, we need steady cash flow."
At my capitalist gripe, Hilde across the table pouted over cheap herb tea, then clunked her cup down.
She dangled appetizing bait.
"Big money? Hit the Empire's Tomb in the northwest valley then."
"Empire's Tomb?"
"Yeah. Biggest ruin around here. Ancient small kingdom's royal tomb from forever ago, swarming with rotten undead—tricky. But the old antiques and grave goods inside fetch good prices on the black market, I hear."
Ancient large dungeon crawling with undead.
Perfect—I planned to turn the Rat Rangers from village militia into proper adventurers delving labyrinths for silver.
I glanced through the flapping tent flap.
Rangers chattering by dying campfire, now asleep.
'Undead? Rotten corpse bones—what's the big deal?'
We have the Lord of the Hamster Wheel on our side!